IEA calls for end to upstream oil, gas investments

The International Energy Agency in a report on Tuesday stated that upstream oil and gas investments should end for the world to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

According to the Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 report, the IEA said that for the world to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a “rapid and radical shift” away from fossil fuels would be needed.

Instead, all new energy investments should be of the renewable variety in what the IEA referred to as an ‘immediate and massive deployment of all available clean and efficient energy technologies.

The agency’s Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector also said that no new coal mines or mine extensions were required if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.“The path to net-zero emissions is narrow as staying on it requires the immediate and massive deployment of all available clean and efficient energy technologies,” the agency said.

The IEA also stated that meeting the goal would mean a sharp decline in demand for fossil fuels, ‘meaning that the focus for oil and gas producers switches entirely to output and emissions reductions from the operation of existing assets.

“No new oil and natural gas fields are needed in the net-zero pathway and supplies become increasingly concentrated in a small number of low-cost producers,” the agency said. The IEA noted that the pathway to achieving net-zero by 2050 would result in coal demand collapsing by 90 per cent and natural gas demand slumping by 55 per cent.